Getting to know Belbin profiles and reports

To help us identify which combination of the Team Roles a person exhibits, we produce personalised behavioural Reports for both individuals and teams.

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These Reports identify which of the nine key clusters of behaviour (or Team Roles) crucial to the success of a team or project individuals prefer, and pinpoint strengths and weaknesses.

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The starting point is the Belbin Individual Report which identifies which combination of the nine Team Roles an individual exhibits. To enhance the value of our Individual Reports, other people are invited to share their observations too (we call these Observer Assessments) via a quick five-minute online questionnaire. We believe in the value of Observer Assessments so much that we include them for free with every Individual Report.

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Once Individuals have their Reports, the information can be used to generate other Belbin Reports, most of which require no additional input from you or your teams.

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Please note - if you have been using, or have been given, a self-scoring version of the Belbin Self-Perception Inventory, you are not using the authorised version of Belbin. Please check here if you are unsure.

Identifying our behavioural styles is the first step towards increasing self-understanding and building more effective working practices.

Each individual needs to understand their key strengths and how to articulate how they prefer to work. This increases employee engagement, allows managers to allocate work more effectively and builds mutually beneficial working relationships with colleagues.

Once an individual has received Observer Assessments back from at least 4 Observers, their report is upgraded to a Full Individual Report that shows how others view them compared to how they view themselves.

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What will an Individual Report offer those in my team?

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A Full Individual Report offers in-depth, personalised advice and guidance, designed to help individuals:

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Identify and promote their behavioural strengths, increasing engagement and allowing the individual to work to their full potential

Acknowledge and develop strategies to minimise any weaknesses associated with their Team Role behaviours

Gain an understanding of how others interpret their behaviour, analysing any differences in perception and exploring potential reasons for these differences

Consider how they might best present themselves at interview or in selection processes

Reflect on their optimal working environment

Articulate their preferred working styles, so that managers and colleagues can delegate and collaborate more effectively

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What does an Individual Report include?

Team Role Overview – showing a graph of the individual’s Team Roles from highest to lowest.

Analysis of your Team Role Composition* – gives an at-a-glance view of the Team Roles the individuals and Observers see, fostering discussion around clarity of contribution.

Comparing Self and Observer Perceptions* - compares the individual’s score with the combined Observer score for each Team Role, to illustrate areas of similarity or contrast between the two.

Your Team Role Preferences – shows the individual’s own view, broken into preferred, manageable and least preferred roles, so they can decide which roles to play, cultivate and avoid.

Team Role Feedback – in-depth textual feedback on an individual’s strongest roles, management and operating styles, and possible weaknesses.

Maximizing your Potential – provides more detail on strengths and possible weaknesses and helps the individual establish how best to present the strengths they exhibit.

Feedback and Development Suggestions – a great discussion-starter for use with a line manager. Provides insights into preferred ways of working, ideal work environments and latent strengths that others have identified.

Observed Team Role Strengths and Weaknesses* – shows Team Role strengths balanced against weaknesses, so the individual can see which of their behaviours are valued by others in the team, and which might be potentially problematic.

List of Observer Responses* – a list of words from the Observer Assessment, giving the individual a list of behavioural characteristics they can use to articulate and promote their Team Role strengths.

Suggested Work Styles – words and phrases which describe how the individual works best – ideal for deciding how best to deploy an individual within the team, or for individuals trying to find their most effective ways of working.

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* Available with Full Individual Report only, after completion of four or more Observer Assessments.

We may understand our own Belbin Team Role contributions, but this is of limited use if we don't share that information with others.

To build and manage great teams, team members need to understand, recognise and maximise the behavioural strengths of others, whilst managing and containing the associated weaknesses. Once you have completed the Self-Perception Inventory and (hopefully) received feedback from others we can transition from individual to team chemistry with Team Reports.

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A Belbin Team Report is the next step

This report isn't there as a definitive document - after all, we have no idea what type of team you are working with, the objectives, time-scales, hierarchy etc. It is a tool with which to initiate meaningful, productive conversations and to start the team on the journey of becoming as great as it can be.

The Belbin Team Report assesses how a group of individuals will work together as a team, detailing who will take on which role within the team, and where there may be gaps or overlaps in behavioural contributions.

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What can I use the Team Report for?

Helping to form a new team

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Diagnosing the reasons for an underperforming team

Putting together a project team

Exploring the strengths and weaknesses of an existing team

Checking that each team member is being used to his/her full potential

Ensuring that the right person is being used for the each team task

Exploring the Team Role culture of the team or group

Identifying the gaps within a team, with a view to recruiting a new team member

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If the team have all used the Observer Assessment element of the Belbin Individual Report, the Belbin Team Report is made up of 7 pages of conversation starters!

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What does each page say?

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Overview of Team Composition: Ideal for the facilitator - has a précis of everyone's data in one report.

Team Contributions: Who is best placed to play each of the nine Belbin Team Roles within the team? Some people may appear two or three times, others only once, but everyone will be mentioned. If there is a Team Role void - i.e. no-one shows a tendency towards a particular Team Role, the gap will be announced. This page is produced for a maximum of 15 team members.

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Team Role Circle: A cheat's guide to the exercise that can be found here: Team Role Circle Exercise. This page is produced for a maximum of 15 team members.

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Individuals in the Team: Shows the team's average score for a Team Role against that of the highest-scoring individual, to show how dependent the team might be on one particular individual to play that role. Great for succession planning!

Strong Examples of Team Roles: Highlights those who don't just have a strength in a particular Team Role, but they show it in abundance and play it to best advantage.

Team Role Averages: The averages for the team, along with a statement regarding the potential culture - this can be run for teams/departments/organisations... The potential uses are endless.

Overall Observer Responses: An accumulation of all the Observer Words that have been ticked for that group of individuals. If you were looking to put together a vision/mission statement, this is a great place to start!

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One word of caution: We do not recommend that the Belbin Team Report is handed out to each team member. It is there as a guide for the facilitator, and needs to be understood before it is used. The Belbin Team Report comes with a useful guide which highlights some potentially sensitive areas for feedback.

Once individuals have completed their Self-Perception Inventory and (preferably) received Observer feedback, you can generate the Belbin Team Report.

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Each Belbin Team Report costs just $150 per team. If you purchase your Belbin Reports from this website with a credit card, you can add them to your Belbin Individual Report purchase. If you prefer to be invoiced, just contact us.

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If you are thinking about using the Belbin Team Reports on a regular basis, the Interplace package would be the best option for you, as they are included free of charge with this package.

You can create as many Team reports as you like - try different combinations of people, look at succession planning, use for recruiting purposes, without paying a penny!

We spend much of our day working in collaboration with others. This may be in a team situation, or on a 1:1 basis. Some pairs might fit well together, but need guidance on how to manage work between them. Others might get along well, but fail to produce results. At worst, individual differences can cause conflict and prevent anything getting done!

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The Belbin Working Relationship Report is a tool which identifies key differences in behavioural tendencies between two people and pinpoints potential areas of difficulty. Couched in the language of Belbin Team Roles, the Reports help depersonalise conflict and offer fruitful discussion starters, providing a more effective way for you to get to grips with different relationships in your team.

When defining a job or responsibility, we often consider the qualifications and skills required, whilst neglecting the specific behavioural attributes needed to be successful in the role. If personal attributes are given space in the job description, it's often in the form of a "shopping list" of generic, positive characteristics which is not specific to the role in question and does not help to discern between possible candidates.

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That's where the language of Belbin Team Roles comes in. Belbin isn't just for individuals. Belbin Job Reports describe jobs in terms of the behavioural demands they make.

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To receive a Job Report, the line manager (or person responsible for the job) must complete the Job Requirements Inventory. This is an online questionnaire which takes about 20 minutes to complete and asks the person responsible for the job to distinguish which attributes are most important for success in the role.

The inventory can be completed by collaboration with other stakeholders, and this process is often illuminating in itself, since it can help to identify and resolve conflicting ideas about what the job entails. Optionally, the line manager can also ask other stakeholders to complete a Job Observation questionnaire. The Job Observation questionnaire consists of two ticklists of adjectives (like the Observer Assessment) which are considered to be particularly helpful or unhelpful to success in the role.

The Belbin Job Report defines a specific job in terms of Belbin Team Roles. This report is created when a manager or recruiter completes the Job Requirements Inventory, a special questionnaire designed to find the most important aspects of a job.

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What can I use the Job Report for?

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Exploring behavioural demands of the job, to avoid focusing exclusively on CV and hard skills

Clarifying stakeholder expectations for a given role when seeking to recruit or select (internally or externally)

Offering guidance to potential candidates applying for a role or attending interview

Addressing performance and engagement issues with a present incumbent

Identifying and exploring dissonance between the expectations of line manager and jobholder in fulfilment of the role

Please note: the Belbin Job Reports are a tool to consolidate thinking about the role and to prompt fruitful discussions. They should never be used as the sole basis for decision-making.

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What does each page say?

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Job Specification: designed for the line manager or whoever is responsible for the job. Describes the job in terms of Belbin Team Role behaviours, including specifying which behavioural contributions are helpful and unhelpful within the role.

Job Expectations: designed for present incumbents or potential candidates. Outlines the nature of the behavioural demands the job will place upon them, and the kind of expectations others might have for the jobholder.

List of Observer Words for Jobs: lists the characteristics that colleagues, clients and other stakeholders consider to be important in the job. Useful for comparing with an individual’s List of Observer Words.

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How can I get a Belbin Job Report?

To obtain a Job Report, the person responsible for the job should complete a Job Requirements Inventory. This is a special inventory designed to extrapolate the particular behavioural qualities required in the role. Optionally, Job Observations can be completed by other stakeholders, to give a more rounded view of what the role entails.

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If you are thinking about using the Belbin Job Reports on a regular basis, the Interplace packagewould be the best option for you, as they are included free of charge with this package.

You can create as many Job Reports as you like – for recruitment and selection, in-role development, gap analysis and more – without paying a penny!

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The Job Comparison Report

Sometimes, potential new recruits can look good "on paper" – they possess all the qualifications and experience required – but turn out to be unsuccessful in the role, for less tangible reasons.

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This typical recruitment scenario can occur because we focus on eligibility (hard skills and everything else that can be recorded on a CV) but neglect to consider suitability – the individual's behavioural styles, and how these stack up against the characteristics required in the role.

Similarly, an incumbent in a role might not be performing as expected, because there is a fundamental mismatch between their Belbin styles and the line manager's expectations for the role.

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The Belbin Job Requirements Inventory asks managers to describe jobs in terms of the behavioural demands they make and produce the Job Report. The Belbin Job Comparison Report works by comparing the Team Role data about the job with that from the individual's Self-Perception responses, to analyse how well a particular individual's Team Role preferences might fit with the demands of the job. If Observer Assessments have been completed for both individual and job, the match in behavioural attributes can be studied in a little more depth.

The Belbin Job Comparison Report analyses the demands for a particular functional role alongside the attributes of an individual being considered for the job, to determine their suitability – perfect when recruiting or for assessment centres.

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What can I use the Job Comparison Report for?

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Generating an 'at-a-glance' view of the match between an individual's Team Roles and those required for a particular job – ideal for selection and recruitment

Exploring in-depth the presence (or absence) of particular behavioural qualities which might be useful (or unhelpful) in the job

Prompting discussion as to how different candidates might fulfil the role in question

Initiating discussion with a present incumbent as to how their Team Role styles might influence performance and engagement in their role

Please note: the Belbin Job Comparison Report is a tool to prompt fruitful thinking and discussion. It should never be used as the sole basis for decision-making.

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How can I get a Belbin Job Comparison Report?

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The Job Comparison Report compares an individual’s Team Roles with those of the job, so we need two sets of Belbin data:

Data about the job (from the line manager or person responsible completing a Job Requirements Inventory and Job Observer Assessments)

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Data about the individual (from the candidate or incumbent completing a Self-Perception Inventory, plus Observer Assessments where possible)

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If you are thinking about using the Belbin Job and Job Comparison Reports on a regular basis, the Interplace package would be the best option for you, as they are included free of charge with this package.

You can create as many Team, Job and Job Comparison Reports as you like without paying a penny!